The Dumbest Comment I Ever Heard

[BanjoMerlin]

There once was a time and place in the US where a comment like "You look stupid in that hat" would be answered by a Colt 45. People may have been more polite then.

Now they know they can get away with anything.

 

[jamespowers]

Now they know they can get away with anything.

Depending on who they accost.

 

[JimWagner]

There's really nothing new under the sun. There's a documented incident in 1922 of an actual riot over men wearing straw hats; http://www.thehistorybox.com/ny_city/riots/SectionIII/riots_article6a.htm

There were plenty of incidents in the 60's over the way hippies dressed. The actor Michael J. Pollard even had his face plastered on a billboard with the caption, "Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut."

How about the Zoot Suit Riots?

In no way am I trying to promote conformity or a sheep mentality nor defend individual boors, but the occasional rude comment is in no way the big deal some try to make it out to be here. Compare those comments you may have received with the examples above.

Rude boors have ALWAYS been around. And I contend that they were much more in evidence before today's age of political correctness. Strangers in general are less likely to comment directly to you over the way you dress today than in the past.

This idea that the so called golden age was so much more polite and refined than today is a pretty fantasy pure and simple.

If you want to hold yourself to higher standards of dress and behavior (I certainly do), then by all means do so - that's a good thing. But lose the smugness.

 

[hatophile]

I think one of the issues here is cultural frame of reference. Most of the members here seem to have a fairly broad historical viewpoint of all manner of subjects, be it music, fashion, sports, movies, there is even a thread on vintage weapons. Most of us, while we may not necessarily agree, at least respect other's points of view.

Today people only seem to look at what's new or hot for the moment and do not look into the past, so their viewpoints are very narrow. If there was not a recent Indiana Jones movie out, I bet fedora wearers would get very few Indy comments, because before that, the last Indy movie was in the late
80's.

Having said that there is a difference between dumb comments and frankly rude ones. You may be right about the Colt 45 Banjo, but I for one am not
about to risk a rude comment to a guy wearing a leather trenchcoat in 95 degree weather to be blasted away by his Uzi!

 

[dwebber18]

Secondly, who defines this norm anyway? When does it shift to the lowest common denominator?

Agreed, I remember my dad(grew up in the 50s) that they were never allowed to wear jeans. He grew up in a coal mining town and his mother viewed those in jeans as poor, working class kids and she didn't want her image associated with that(even though my dad's whole family worked in the mines). I'm not saying jeans don't have a place, but it does show that as a society we typically go with the easiest solution or lowest common denominator. I remember my dad using those words exactly

 

[jamespowers]

There's really nothing new under the sun. There's a documented incident in 1922 of an actual riot over men wearing straw hats; http://www.thehistorybox.com/ny_city/riots/SectionIII/riots_article6a.htm

There were plenty of incidents in the 60's over the way hippies dressed. The actor Michael J. Pollard even had his face plastered on a billboard with the caption, "Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut."

How about the Zoot Suit Riots?

In no way am I trying to promote conformity or a sheep mentality nor defend individual boors, but the occasional rude comment is in no way the big deal some try to make it out to be here. Compare those comments you may have received with the examples above.

Rude boors have ALWAYS been around. And I contend that they were much more in evidence before today's age of political correctness. Strangers in general are less likely to comment directly to you over the way you dress today than in the past.

This idea that the so called golden age was so much more polite and refined than today is a pretty fantasy pure and simple.

If you want to hold yourself to higher standards of dress and behavior (I certainly do), then by all means do so - that's a good thing. But lose the smugness.

Smug:
1 : trim or smart in dress : spruce
2 : scrupulously clean, neat, or correct : tidy
3 : highly self-satisfied

I'll take the first two but I take umbrage to the last.
The incidents you mention were so rare at the time that they resulted in newspaper articles. If that were today then there would be newspapers devoted to the subject.
There were indeed always boors but today they have become legion. There were less before because we were more open to deliver our point ot the end of a nose. Today, political correctness has actually caused it to fester much worse. You can't say anything back for fear of offending the offender. :eusa_doh: Just skulk away and pretend you didn't hear what you heard. You might get sued if you slander or malign someone in the process. God help you if you actually lay hands on the guy. He'll probably sue you for every cent you are worth.
The golden era may have had its cads but it certainly wasn't PC. You took care of such situations yourself---not call the PC police.
Lastly, for those who don't like this thread, please, feel free not to read it but you don't need to break in and get off topic and criticize it in this thread and elsewhere.
Back to our regularly scheduled program.

 

[jamespowers]

Agreed, I remember my dad(grew up in the 50s) that they were never allowed to wear jeans. He grew up in a coal mining town and his mother viewed those in jeans as poor, working class kids and she didn't want her image associated with that(even though my dad's whole family worked in the mines). I'm not saying jeans don't have a place, but it does show that as a society we typically go with the easiest solution or lowest common denominator. I remember my dad using those words exactly

My father, born in 1930, also used that phrase. I had to get it from somewhere.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Lastly, for those who don't like this thread, please, feel free not to read it but you don't need to break in and get off topic and criticize it in this thread and elsewhere.

Translation: "Please don't criticize this thread as being dumb and stupid, since it gets in the way of our relentless efforts to characterize others as dumb and stupid"...

 

[jamespowers]

Translation: "Please don't criticize this thread as being dumb and stupid, since it gets in the way of our relentless efforts to characterize others as dumb and stupid"...

Uh, not quite however we are again: fftopic: [bad]
The comments are described as stupid. the people are described as boors, cads and oafs.

 

[handlebar bart]

Translation: "Please don't criticize this thread as being dumb and stupid, since it gets in the way of our relentless efforts to characterize others as dumb and stupid"...

lol lol This thread should be a sticky since sometimes it makes it to the bottom of the page and gets ignored for a day or two.

 

[jamespowers]

lol lol This thread should be a sticky since sometimes it makes it to the bottom of the page and gets ignored for a day or two.

Maybe but it will always get to the top one way or the other. Not a day goes by without an "Indy" comment somewhere in the world.

 

[MisterCairo]

If you want to hold yourself to higher standards of dress and behavior (I certainly do), then by all means do so - that's a good thing. But lose the smugness.

Why is it smugness to be offended by rude, unsolicited comments from people with nothing better to do than insult others? And why is acceptable because, apparently, it's been around a long time? If it was rude in 1937, it's still rude today.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Why is it smugness to be offended by rude, unsolicited comments from people with nothing better to do than insult others? And why is acceptable because, apparently, it's been around a long time? If it was rude in 1937, it's still rude today.

That's not what's smug. What's smug is to take certain remarks that are not necessarily made in any kind of mean-spirited way (as are many of the examples given in this thread), and then to offer utterly derogatory and baseless opinions about people without knowing anything about them -- ultimately resulting in a resounding chorus here of "yeah, what a bunch of idiot stupid-heads."

Ridiculous, and offensive. A certain irony there, methinks...

 

[Tiller]

That's not what's smug. What's smug is to take certain remarks that are not necessarily made in any kind of mean-spirited way (as are many of the examples given in this thread), and then to offer utterly derogatory and baseless opinions about people without knowing anything about them -- ultimately resulting in a resounding chorus here of "yeah, what a bunch of idiot stupid-heads."

Ridiculous, and offensive. A certain irony there, methinks...

You must be more dedicated to this thread then I am. And I'm sure with all that post on here their are some that are as you describe. The few I've read have hardly been boarderline though. Such as teens teasing a grown man for his attire well he was on his way to see his wife in the hospital, or another teen starting off by saying something nice, and then going off about how really stupid a hat is. Such remarks from total strangers are rude and annoying, and hardly worth excusing in any era whether they happened in 2010 or 1936 it doesn't matter.

Whether pointing this out makes me and others "smug" will have to be decided by others though.

 

[jimmy the lid]

Though few will contest today's rampant rudeness, especially among my peers, this thread could easily cross a fuzzy line, after which we risk sounding like the very people that offend us.

That's it...

 

[Tiller]

It's neither good nor bad, it's just that it's going to happen on a thread like this. Though few will contest today's rampant rudeness, especially among my peers, this thread could easily cross a fuzzy line, after which we risk sounding like the very people that offend us.

Are you talking about the "come backs" that are suggested, or how some describe the people that say the insults to begin with? Either way I have a hard time understanding that feeling, maybe I am "smugger" then I thought lol. Atleast I keep it to one obscure online board though lol.

 

[JPH]

Well, it's one thing to politely comment that a hat's color, shape, size, style, etc., may not fit the individuals proportions. face shape, etc., but it's a completely different animal to make a far more ridiculous and pejorative statement that just the mere act of wearing a hat is "stupid."

It begs the question of just what their qualifications to make such a bold statement are. Credentials, we must see credentials.

Joseph
Anyone who condemns the act of wearing a hat, based on nothing more than their own limited life experience, lack of good taste, poor sense of style, and desire to demonstrate their bad manners upon anyone they deem a target, is obviously a person of dubious antecedence and conjectural progeny.

 

[BanjoMerlin]

I would have trouble putting most of the "Indy" comments I've ever heard into the group of "Dumbest Comments." Usually those comments come from a person who thinks he is being humorous and original. I rarely acknowledge "Indy" comments and except for the guy who said "Who the f*&^ do you think you are, Indiana Jones?" I don't take them as insults.

BTW, to that guy I replied "No, I'm Crocodile Dundee, want to see my knife?"

 

[fenris]

I'm okay with the Indy comments seeing as I am wearing an Indy-style hat.

 

[jamespowers]

You must be more dedicated to this thread then I am. And I'm sure with all that post on here their are some that are as you describe. The few I've read have hardly been boarderline though. Such as teens teasing a grown man for his attire well he was on his way to see his wife in the hospital, or another teen starting off by saying something nice, and then going off about how really stupid a hat is. Such remarks from total strangers are rude and annoying, and hardly worth excusing in any era whether they happened in 2010 or 1936 it doesn't matter.

Whether pointing this out makes me and others "smug" will have to be decided by others though.

Interesting isn't it? The thread is full of "smugness" yet they can't stop reading it.
I have yet to see one example stated yet but what the heck lets just paint the whole thing as smug.
Any ridiculous unsolicitied comment is stupid and rude. That goes from Columbo to Indy. There are no excuses and how you act reflects upon you. If we infer from that that they are idiots, dolts and stupid then it is from their actions that we get that impression. Like bromide states: It is better to be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it.
Also restating JPH:
Anyone who condemns the act of wearing a hat, based on nothing more than their own limited life experience, lack of good taste, poor sense of style, and desire to demonstrate their bad manners upon anyone they deem a target, is obviously a person of dubious antecedence and conjectural progeny.

Sounds good to me.